Debutants show off their skills

Eastgate Amateur Boxing Club held its first ever open boxing show for grassroots boxing in East Anglia, to a packed audience at Whelnetham on Saturday.

Clubs travelled from all parts of East Anglia producing 38 closely-fought bouts.

The Rougham-based outfit had seven debutants appearing in skill bouts.

These were Freddie Bond, Kieran Burton, Zac Howard, Crimea Price, William Price, Matthew Starie and James Starie, who all boxed well, displaying their well-honed skills.

Eastgate’s 14-year-old Ryan Day retained his ABA county title by defeating Ben Burgess in an all-action contest.

While clubmate Sam Wiliams nudged his way to a majority verdict over Jasper Boydell of Sudbury, Matt Rose, Paul Price and Tommy Taylor all suffered losses in closely-fought contests.

The show was an all-round success with a large number of volunteers who gave their time freely, including the ABA Officials of England in attendance.

Eastgate hope this could set a mould for the future, enabling unlimited numbers of young people from the ages of 10-16 to participate in the sport at shows aimed at providing an opportunity to hold a large number of skill bouts on any one show, sanctioned by the ABA.